Tongs



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EBENR. kLOBDELL,10F PLYMEPTQN, AND THOS. ILOBDELL, OI BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TONGS .OR .GRAPEPLING IRON S FOR RAISIQNG. BQDIES 'UNDER WATER.

Specification of Letters Batent No. .362,dated August 51H8, 1,837,

To all whom fi-tmajz/ concern.'

Be it known ythat we, the undersigned, EBENEZER LOBDELL, of Plympton, .in V the county of Plymouth, and THS.. J. LOBDELL, of Boston, in the. county of Suffolk, all in the State of Massachusetts, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement on tongs, dogs, or grappling-irons heretofore in use for the purpose of raising light or heavy bodies from under water, yand which improvement we call Lobdells tongs or grappling-irons, and that the annexed instrument of writing contains a full and exact description thereof. y

Description of Lobdells tongs vor grappling irons used for the recovery of property lost by shipwreck; for clearing out the beds of rivers, and for removing` rocks and other obstructions from under any depth of water in which soundings can be had. y

The tongs themselves do not vary essentially from the tongs, dogs or grapplingirons heretofore in common use by lumbermen, fishermen and others; but the application of them to the purposes above named, as well as to the removal of all kinds of stones, or other obstructions to submarine works, is presumed to be a new discovery; as is also the improvements by which they are opened and shut, and also the wings or bearing frames by which they are capable of retaining in their grasp bars of iron and other articles.

Plan L Figure 1. is a view of one set of tongs, with the wingsl or bearing frames attached thereto. Tongs of this construction are used for bringing up from the bottom bars of iron, or any other lengthy articles Which could not be retained and brought up by a pair of common tongs without the addition of the wings or bearing frames. Fig. 2. gives a View of the swivel-eyes e, e, through which the bridle ropes f, f, pass; these swivel-eyes pass entirely through the arms of the tongs, as shown in Fig. 3. Plan 2, and play freely round on their necks 'n and thus accommodate themselves to the strain of the bridle ropes. They are kept in their places by a nut, or burr, on the end of the neck, as shown in the figure. The bridle-ropes f, y", and the back-line g serve for opening the tongs when under water, in fact the tongs are usually lowered into the water by this back-line g, and consequently they descend already open as represented in Plan 1.

i Plan 2n-Fig. ,3 gives `a .View of `the lower l part o f thetongs (the zupper parrtsbeing rep,- ,resented as broken o lf) with `the wings or bearingl frames attached, as they wouldbe sQQIl from-the side B Bof Plan l'. It will be perceived that the wings or bearing frames are attached to the tongs by the connecting pivot K, which also forms the joint of the tongs. This ligure represents the tongs as loaded with a quantity of bar iron which is kept from falling through them, or out of their control, in consequence of the bars being supported bytheir own gravity against the bottom lC of the bearing frames 5, c. The load being unequally poised the longest or heaviest end of each bar bears down upon the tongs, while the shortest and lightest end is pressed upward against the Vbottom C of the bearing frame, and is thus prevented from falling out of the grasp of the tongs, while they are kept closed by the strain on the bridle and fall n and Z, Plan l, which serve to bring the load from t-he bottom, and to keep the tongs shut up until they are taken, with their load, into the v essel which conducts the operation. Fig. 4 shows the shape of the bot-tom part C of the wings or bearing frame. This is made of strong iron, and to it the supports, or braces, b, b, Fig. 3, are firmly screwed or bolted on each side of the tongs, as is shown in Fig. 3 at S,S. In all cases the tongs and wings or bearing frames are to be made wholly of wrought iron, and of such size and strength as the work they are intended to perform would naturally require.

Plans 3 and 4 represent a set of tongs calculated to raise stones, coal or other articles of irregular shape and size, which from their nature could not be operated upon by the other set of tongs. These are made with two, three or more prongs to each arm, as shown in Fig. 6. Plan 4 gives a view of the tongs and bridle-ropes which conduct the process of opening and shutting when under water, and the general operations when in use. Fig. 5 is a view of the same taken from the side B of Pl. 4. In each plan a represents the prongs or jaws, of which there are two, three or more, as the case may require; Z the arms; b the supports to keep the prongs duly seprated; K' the pivot which connects the two arms, or branches of the tongs together; e and f and m the bridles and backlines for lowering the tongs and opening them When under Water; g and 7L the bridle and fall for shutting them; keeping them closed and hoisting them, With their load, out of the Water. Fig. 6 gives a View of a pair of three pronged tongs Without the bridle ropes, &c.

When dollars or other small articles are to be sought for the lower eXteremities, or jaws of the tongs, as Well as the sides, must he covered With sheet-iron or some other substance adapted to the purpose so as to form, as it were, a pair'of spoons or scoops, which When closed should retain the smallest objects; in this form they may be made useful in bringing up mud, sand, gravel, &c.,

The Wings or bearing frames, by which 20 bars of iron, or other lengthy articles, are held in the grasp of the tongs, as is more particularly represented and described in the annexed documents.

EBENE. LOBDELL. THOS. J. LOBDELL.

Witnesses E. COPELAND, Jr.,

. E. Trios. LOBDELL. 

